Wind Deflector Comprising a Linearly Oscillating Deflector Element

ABSTRACT

A wind deflector for a vehicle is provided. The wind deflector includes a movably mounted deflector element and an actuator for moving the deflector element. The actuator can move the deflector element in a linearly oscillating manner in one direction in space, especially vertically. The linear movement can be performed regardless of a curvature of a class A surface of a vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a national stage of PCT InternationalApplication No. PCT/EP2009/005657, filed Aug. 5, 2009, and claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to German Patent Application No. 10 2008036 887.3, filed Aug. 7, 2008, the entire disclosures of these documentsare herein expressly incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a wind deflector for a vehicle with adeflector element that is mounted in a movable manner, and an actuatorfor moving the deflector element. The present invention further relatesto a vehicle with a sliding roof and such a deflector element.

Under certain conditions a periodic pressure fluctuation occurs withhollow spaces which air flows against. This can be a problem with allvehicles. Vehicles are hereby not only meant to be passenger motorvehicles and heavy goods vehicles, but also for example airplanes andtrains.

The pressure fluctuations in passenger cabins are noticed by so-called“rumbling noises”. These are extremely uncomfortable and disturbing forthe passengers. So-called wind deflectors are, for example, oftenprovided at the sliding roofs, which deflect the flow in such a mannerthat the pressure fluctuations in the passenger space are reduced. Rigidwind deflectors, however, only reduce the rumbling noises to a certaindegree.

DE 197 50 218 C2 discloses a method for suppressing periodic pressurechanges in a hollow space flown around by an outer flow and providedwith a opening. A change of the flow direction of the outer flow opposedto current pressure change in the interior of the hollow space iseffected periodically and in phase. Oscillating small deflecting wingsare particularly used in phase for influencing the flow at the frontedge of a roof section of a passenger motor vehicle. The wings deflectthe flow at the upper roof side. Electric motors, piezo-ceramicactuators or electrodynamic actuators effect a deflection of the wings.A control cycle ensures that the deflection of the outer flowcounteracts the pressure changes in the interior space.

It is disadvantageous with these wings that they have to be mounted to acurved axis, as the roof of a motor vehicle is usually curved. Thiscurvature leads to problems with the wing movement.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to a winddeflector that leads to reduced pressure fluctuations in a hollow spacethat is flown about, and which can be moved mechanically withoutproblems.

This is achieved according to the invention by a wind deflector for avehicle with a deflector element that is mounted in a movable manner andan actuator for moving the deflector element, wherein the deflectorelement can be moved in a linearly oscillating manner in one directionin space.

In an advantageous manner, the linear movement is independent of thecurvature of the vehicle surface, and the deflector element can obtainthe contour of the vehicle surface, so that optimum flow conditions canbe achieved.

The wind deflector preferably has a center part and unmovable lateralparts, wherein the deflector element is arranged in a movable manner inthe center part between the lateral parts. The movable deflector elementin the center of the wind deflector is usually sufficient to achieve ahigh damping of the rumbling noises.

The center part can have a deflector base, to which the lateral partsare connected rigidly or in one piece, and on which the actuator isfastened. A relatively stable wind deflector can thereby be constructed.

According to a further embodiment, two hinge arms can be arranged insuch a manner that they form a four bar hinge together with thedeflector element and the deflector base. A stable movement amongstothers orthogonally to the deflector base is thus possible with thedeflector element.

Each of the two hinge arms can have a leaf spring. The four bar hinge isbrought into a stable center position with these springs, around whichthe deflector element can oscillate.

Corresponding to an alternative embodiment, the wind deflector has alinear guide for the deflector element and a spring device for holdingthe deflector element in a basic position in the linear guide. Anoscillating linear movement around a center position can also berealized hereby.

With this alternative embodiment, the spring device can comprise twospiral springs which are mounted to two opposite ends of the deflectorelement. The deflector element can be mounted symmetrically in a centerposition in this manner.

The actuator can be an electrodynamic actuator, whose elements can bemoved in two orthogonal directions with regard to each other. Theswinging movement of a four bar hinge can particularly be driventhereby.

According to a further embodiment, a further actuator can be present inaddition to the actuator, and each of the actuators is connected to theend of the deflector element via a rocker. A mass balancing between theactuators and the deflector element can be achieved by this rockerconstruction. Accelerations introduced at the base thereby do not causeany relative movement of the deflector edge.

The deflector element can further have such a profile that a flowseparation with regard to the inflow takes place at a rear edge. Thishas the advantage that smaller flow speeds occur at the deflector edgeand flow swirls can hardly still impinge on the deflector element,whereby the noise disturbance by the air inflow is reduced further.

A vehicle with a sliding roof is provided according to a preferredembodiment, at which the above-described wind deflector is mounted.Rumbling noises in the passenger space can be reduced with it in aparticularly effective manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The present invention is now explained in more detail by means of theenclosed drawings, in which show:

FIG. 1 a section through an oscillating deflector according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 an exploded view of the individual parts of the center part ofthe deflector of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 the individual parts of the actuator of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 a deflector with rigid solenoids and mass balancing according afurther embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 a cross section through the center part of the deflector of FIG.1;

FIG. 6 a cross section through an alternative deflector.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The exemplary embodiments illustrated in more detail in the followingrepresent preferred embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a wind deflector according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 1 shows the wind deflector in the view on thefront edge of a sliding roof. The wind deflector is formed elongated andcurved according to the contour of the vehicle roof. The entire winddeflector includes three parts, 1, 2 and 3. Only the upper edge or theupper section 4 or the center part 2 can oscillate. The two outer parts1 and 3 function as a conventional deflector and at the same time as astiffening of the base 5 of the entire deflector. The entire winddeflector is driven upwards by about 15 mm when opening the slidingroof, as is also the case with conventional wind deflectors.

FIG. 1 is shown the entire wind deflector in its longitudinal section.The individual parts of the center part 2 are represented in FIG. 2 inan exploded depiction. The upper section 4 of the center part 2represents a deflector element and includes a deflector bar 40 and anupper arm 41 of a four bar hinge. The deflector bar 40 is adapted to theroof contour and has an edge 42 for the flow separation.

The deflector bar 40 is furthermore inserted into bores 44 of the upperarm 41 by means of corresponding pins 43. The deflector bar 40 can alsobe connected to the upper arm 41 in another manner or formed in onepiece therewith.

The four bar hinge is formed by two leaf springs 6 and 7 in addition tothe upper arm 41 and the deflector base 5 (not shown in FIG. 2). Thesetwo leaf springs 6 and 7 are, for example, screwed to the deflector base5 and the upper arm 41. They proceed, for example, at an angle of 20° tothe upper arm 41 or the base 5.

An electrodynamic actuator 8 engages the upper section 4 of the centerpart 2 for movements with respect to the deflector base 5. Theelectrodynamic actuator 8 has, as explained in more detail below inconnection with FIG. 3, a solenoid 80 and an iron core 81 with magnets82.

The four bar hinge defines the vertical center position of the deflectorelement or of the upper section 4 of the center part 2 and takes on theguide of the solenoid 80 in the iron core 81 with the magnets 82. It isadditionally ensured by the four bar hinge that the deflector bar 40always moves vertically parallel to the deflector base 5.

As an alternative to the leaf springs 6 and 7, the two lateral arms ofthe four bar hinge can also be formed as stiff arms with respectivelyone hinge at the end. A correspondingly another spring device can thenbe provided in order to hold the upper section 4 of the deflector centerpart 2 in a base position, around which it can oscillate.

FIG. 3 shows the electrodynamic actuator 8 in detail. It has anelongated iron core with an E-shaped profile. Permanent magnets 82 arearranged at the outer legs parallel to the longitudinal axis of the ironcore 81. A solenoid body 80 can be moved between these permanent magnets82 on or over the center leg of the E-shaped iron core essentiallyvertically to the longitudinal axis of the iron core 81 or of thesolenoid body 80, namely in the vertical direction according to thedouble arrow 9. The movement is caused by the magnetic force which thetwo magnet components 80 on the one hand and 81 together with 82 on theother hand exert on each other.

The solenoid body 80 can additionally carry out movements according tothe double arrow 10 along the longitudinal axis of the iron core 81 orthe magnets 82. This lateral movement is caused by the parallel guidanceby means of the four bar hinge.

The described arrangement with at least two magnets 82 in two parallelplanes lateral of the solenoid 80, which permits movements of thesolenoid 80 in the vertical and horizontal direction, can provide aparticularly low and small construction. Constructions with aconventional loudspeaker solenoid are however also conceivable.

An alternative embodiment to the four bar hinge can, for example, bedesigned with two spiral springs at the left and right end of the uppersection 4 of the deflector. Additional guide elements for the actuator 8in the form of, for example, longitudinal links are then necessary.

A further advantageous embodiment of the oscillating wind deflectoraccording to the invention is shown in FIG. 4. This wind deflector canalso be formed in three parts with an oscillating center part and rigidouter parts according to FIGS. 1 and 2. The wind deflector canalternatively also oscillate over the entire length. This is valid forthe embodiment according to FIG. 4 and for the embodiment according toFIGS. 1 and 2.

The deflector has two solenoids 11 and 12, which are rigidly mounted onthe base 5. The two solenoids 11 and 12 cooperate with iron cores 13,14, which are provided with permanent magnets as the actuator of FIG. 3.The iron cores 13 and 14 are respectively suspended on a rocker 15, 16in a floating manner. The rockers 15 and 16 are respectively supportedon the base 5 via a stabilizer link 17, 18. The end of each rocker 15,16 respectively opposite the iron core 13, 14 is connected to one of theends of the upper part 4 of the oscillating deflector or the deflectoredge via a spring hinge or a stabilizer link 19, 20.

If the iron cores 13 and 14 carry out oscillating movements essentiallyvertical to the base 5, the other ends of the rockers 15 and 16oscillate in a mirror-inverted manner. Their rocking movement is thentransferred directly to the upper part 4 of the deflector via thestabilizer links 19 and 20, so that this also oscillates vertical orperpendicular to the base according to the arrow 21.

A mass balancing with regard to the upper part 4 can be achieved by therockers 15 and 16, to which are also mounted the iron cores 13 and 14 inaddition to the upper part 4 of the deflector. This has the advantagethat vertical vehicle accelerations at the base of the deflector do nothave any influence on its function due to the balanced mass forces.Furthermore, a spring element, which defines the vertical centerposition of the deflector edge or of the oscillating upper part of thedeflector, is not necessary. A further advantage of the embodimentaccording to FIG. 4 is that a simple current supply to the solenoids 11and 12 is possible, as these are mounted rigidly to the base 5.

FIG. 5 shows a cross section through a wind deflector according to theinvention, which is built into the roof 22 of a vehicle. The sectionproceeds in the flow direction 23 of the air. Here, the wind deflectorsuppresses rumbling noises with a sliding roof. The sliding roof isopened, which is why the oscillating deflector 24, whose profile isdepicted here symbolically as a pentagon and essentially corresponds tothe upper section 4 of the deflector of FIGS. 1 and 2, projects from theroof surface 25. Driven by the actuator 8, which is fastened in a groove26 of the vehicle roof 22, the deflector 24 carries out an oscillatingvertical movement, which can possibly also take place perpendicular tothe roof surface 25. The deflector 24 is sealed with a seal 27 withregard to the groove 26 or the roof 22 against the inflow direction 23.

The profile of the deflector 24 is now essentially characterized by afront edge 28 and a rear edge 29. Air flows directly to the front edge28, which thus faces the driving direction. The front edge 28 isfurthermore arranged nearly vertical. The rear edge 29 is inclinedslightly forward with respect to the vertical rear side 30 of the lowerpart of the deflector. The flow separation takes place at the top of thefront edge 28. This results in high flow speeds occurring at theseparation edge and air swirls impinge the rear edge 29 and thereby alsocausing disturbing noises at least within low limits.

For the further reduction of the disturbing noises, an improved profileof the oscillating wind deflector is provided. The construction of theentire wind deflector, built into a vehicle, essentially corresponds tothe one of the construction of FIG. 5. The only difference consists inthe deflector 24′ and in particular in its cross sectional profile. Inthe embodiment according to FIG. 6, the front edge 28′ is drawn veryflat to the rear and is only slightly steeper than the roof surface 25.The front edge 28′ additionally proceeds up to the vertical rear side30′ of the deflector 24′. The rear edge is thereby formed by the rearside 30′. The flow separation thus takes place at the rear edge or rearside 30′ of the deflector 24′. The flow swirls, however, do not impingeon the deflector itself, so that they cannot cause any furtherdisturbing noises. Due to the largely undisturbed inflow and the flowseparation at the rear edge, best results are thus achieved for rumblingsuppression, inner noise and keeping free from draft.

The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate theinvention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of thedisclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of theinvention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention shouldbe construed to include everything within the scope of the appendedclaims and equivalents thereof.

1-11. (canceled)
 12. A wind deflector for a vehicle, the wind deflectorcomprising: a deflector element moveably mounted on the vehicle; and anactuator coupled to the deflector element so that the deflector elementis moveable by the actuator in one direction in space in a linearlyoscillating manner.
 13. The wind deflector according to claim 12,wherein the wind deflector has a center part and immovable lateralparts, wherein the deflector element is arranged in a movable manner inthe center part between the lateral parts.
 14. The wind deflectoraccording to claim 13, wherein the center part has a deflector base withwhich the immovable lateral parts are connected in a rigid manner or inone piece, and on which the actuator is fastened.
 15. The wind deflectoraccording to claim 14, comprising: two hinge arms arranged to form afour bar hinge together with the deflector element and the deflectorbase.
 16. The wind deflector according to claim 15, wherein each of thetwo hinge arms has a leaf spring.
 17. The wind deflector according toclaim 12, comprising: a linear guide for the deflector element; and aspring device for holding the deflector element in a basic position inthe linear guide.
 18. The wind deflector according to claim 17, whereinthe spring device comprises two spiral springs mounted at two oppositeends of the deflector element.
 19. The wind deflector according to claim12, wherein the actuator is an electrodynamic actuator with elementsmoveable with regard to each other in two orthogonal directions.
 20. Thewind deflector according to claim 12, comprising: a further actuatornext to the actuator, wherein each of the actuators is respectivelyconnected to one end of the deflector element via a rocker.
 21. The winddeflector according to claim 12, wherein the deflector element has aprofile such that a flow separation takes place related to the inflow ata rear edge.
 22. A vehicle with a sliding roof, the vehicle comprising:a sliding roof; and a wind deflector mounted to the sliding roof, thewind deflector comprising a deflector element moveably mounted on thevehicle; and an actuator coupled to the deflector element so that thedeflector element is moveable by the actuator in one direction in spacein a linearly oscillating manner.
 23. A method for wind deflector of avehicle, the wind deflector comprising a deflector element moveablymounted on the vehicle and an actuator coupled to the deflector element,the method comprising: moving, by the actuator, the deflector element ismoveable in one direction in space in a linearly oscillating manner. 24.The method of claim 23, wherein the actuator is an electrodynamicactuator with elements moveable with regard to each other in twoorthogonal directions.